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Less room to roam as rotunda renovations pick up

Capitol renovation continues during the start of the 2014 legislative session in this February file photo.Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News

A new phase in the $272 million restoration of the Minnesota State Capitol that begins next week will force the closure of some parts of the building to the public.

The construction will require the rotunda and east wing to be closed, along with the ground and first floors of the west wing.

Department of Administration Assistant Commissioner Curt Yoakum said workers will start the replacement of the roof this summer.

"The rooftop [has] a lot of brick pavers, but then under that are just layers and layers of asphalt and rubber material that had been used over the course of decades to repair the roof," Yoakum said. "The roof being replaced will take place starting this summer over the course of the next couple of years."

The governor, attorney general and press corps have all been relocated to temporary locations during the construction. State senators will stay in the building until after the end of the 2015 session.

Yoakum said planners had to relocate the offices before workers installed new mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems in the building.

Flagpoles on the roof will be temporarily relocated across the street to the Court of Honor Memorial in front of the Veterans Service Building, he said.

The prominent golden chariot sculpture, known as the Quadriga, will be enclosed to protect it. The chariot driver featured in the sculpture will be removed and repaired later this summer.

Work on the renovation project started last year. It is expected to be finished in 2017.